Ken Borland

The Bulls have lost a leader in Johan Goosen, but captain Marcell Coetzee said on Tuesday that welcoming the player responsible for the Springboks winning the series against the British and Irish Lions back into the squad can only lift the team as they look to finish their first overseas campaign in the United Rugby Championship on a high against Edinburgh on Saturday.

Morne Steyn arrived in Edinburgh on Tuesday, via an overnight flight from Frankfurt, with the Bulls confirming that flyhalf Goosen was headed in the opposite direction, flying back to South Africa to have scans on the knee he injured in last weekend’s momentous win over the Cardiff Blues.

“Johan is a real character and a good leader in the team, and we are bleeding for him,” Coetzee said. “But now we have Morne here, who won the British and Irish Lions series, he has fantastic experience that you just can’t buy.

“It’s going to be awesome to have him with us this week, what a character he is and a legend of Bulls rugby. He is consistent in all he does and I’m sure he’s going to bring energy and enthusiasm that will lift the team.

“Chris Smith also showed his character and resilience when he replaced Johan, I thought he had an excellent game and he carried that flyhalf mantle really well,” the Springbok loose forward added.

Last weekend’s impressive comeback win against Cardiff was vital for the Bulls after they started the competition with chastening defeats against Leinster and Connacht. It’s their last week on a tough tour to a brand new environment, but Coetzee said the Currie Cup champions are hungry for another win this weekend.

“The mood is a bit more positive now after the win, but we want to be consistent. There’s definitely some new energy, we know it’s our last week on tour and there’s plenty to play for.

“We want that same mindset as in the second half against Cardiff when we gave it everything and the passion and character of the team came out.

“We just want a successful end for the tour, having come into a whole new tournament not knowing what to expect. We are still quite a young group, but we are growing by the day.

“Hopefully things are right now and we must make sure we don’t take a step backwards this weekend. Our performance on Saturday will say a lot about how we have grown as a group and how strong our culture is,” Coetzee said.

He may be confined to his room in a bio-secure bubble in Abu Dhabi, but Proteas all-rounder Wiaan Mulder says he is filled with gratitude just to be sitting just where he is, because a year ago his entire career was at risk.

The 23-year-old has played just five T20 internationals but made the cut for his first senior World Cup thanks to his batting ability and the way he has contributed vital overs in the attack, showing an air of confidence despite his inexperience in the format. The highly-rated Mulder has struggled through injuries over the last few years and at one stage was told to give up bowling.

“It’s incredible, a dream come true. Three months ago I didn’t think I would be sitting here,” Mulder said on Friday.

“A year ago I was told I would probably never bowl again and after surgery I didn’t think I would be back in the Proteas set-up for a couple of years. So to be here after all the injuries I’ve had to face is amazing.

“I kept getting back injuries and no-one could diagnose exactly what was wrong. Even during Covid, my body had six months to heal but my back just wouldn’t settle.

“So eventually I went for scans and they showed I have cam impingements in both hips. It means the ball of my femur is too big for the socket cavity and it gets stuck.

“Surgery would have put me out for eight months, but where would it leave my cricket? I was told my career could be over. But physio Craig Govender and Doc Ash [Hashendra Ramjee] have conditioned and looked after me well, and if I manage it I shouldn’t have any issues,” Mulder revealed.

The last World Cup South Africa played in was the 50-over competition in England in 2019, and their performance was abysmal. Their poor record in World Cups in general is well-known, but Mulder said this new-look side has to embrace the pressures.

“We can’t dwell on the anxiety and the negative stuff, we can change people’s lives if we win this World Cup and that’s what motivates us.

“Playing in the U19 World Cup, we did not have the best time and it was the first time I had been exposed to those pressures. But this will be on a level of its own. But we can only embrace it.

“I think T20 is the best format for this Proteas team at the moment, we have such a diverse team and it’s important to just be ourselves, that will be vital in terms of performance.

“We have a nicely balanced side and we beat the world champions in the West Indies and Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka, those were two really tough trips. We’re not favourites, but we have a really good chance, which is a good place to be,” Mulder said.

The intensity and skill on display in the new domestic structure makes the cricket very competitive, but it is the game-awareness of international players that marks them out when you move to a higher level, according to Western Province paceman Beuran Hendricks.

Hendricks was unfortunate to miss out on selection for the Proteas squad currently in the United Arab Emirates preparing for the T20 World Cup, but will instead spearhead Western Province’s efforts to try and win the CSA Provincial T20 Cup and bring some silverware to Newlands for the first time since 2014/15.

Western Province did not have things easy though qualifying for the quarterfinals from Pool A, and the Central Gauteng Lions fell by the wayside in the same group, which was topped by Division II side South-Western Districts.

“The start of the season has been brilliant and very competitive,” Hendricks told The Citizen. “It looks like a good product and it woke up a few teams. We nearly found out the hard way that the Division II teams are not mediocre.

“We were in difficult positions, the Lions were knocked out and the Titans had a big scare. We’ve seen talent come through, names you didn’t see at franchise level like Evan Jones and Clyde Fortuin.

“There’s no problem with the intensity and the guys have the skill, but where the shift to international level comes is in game-awareness. You have to make sure you have all your bases covered, not just one factor.

“The guys need to make sure they hone their skills, specifically the T20 ones like change-ups and yorkers at the death, and the awareness that the field-placings have to be spot-on,” Hendricks, who has played one Test, eight ODIs and 19 T20s for South Africa, said.

While Western Province were far from perfect in edging out the Lions by two runs and beating Northern Cape, it was pleasing that they came through under pressure, which speaks well of the environment in the squad under Faiek Davids.

“We’re quite relaxed and the guys are starting to enjoy themselves. It was quite a tough environment before because losing is never easy.

“But experienced guys like myself, Wayne Parnell and Aviwe Mgijima are trying to bring a sense of calm to the group. If the seniors take responsibility then the youngsters can just express themselves.

“Having three left-arm quicks in myself, Wayne and Nandre Burger is also good because it means it’s not easy for the opposing batsmen, who normally face so many right-armers.

“I’ve never seen three left-arm quicks play in the same team before, but we feed off each other and it’s definitely an asset to have 12 overs of left-arm seam,” Hendricks said.

The Springboks may have been conned into deviating from their strengths a bit in their two losses to the Wallabies, but their determination to build on what they did in their narrow loss to New Zealand last weekend will have been boosted by the three changes the All Blacks have made to their backline for Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test on the Gold Coast.

South Africa have spent this week stubbornly refusing to deviate from their plan despite mounting criticism from doe-eyed lovers of ball-in-hand rugby that kicking the ball away in the last 10 minutes was what cost them a 19-17 defeat at the death.

The All Blacks have changed their wings, with Sevu Reece and Rieko Ioane now set to face the aerial bombardment, and have chosen a scrumhalf with an even stronger kicking game in Brad Weber.

“We back our style and our physical presence, and we have great leaders we trust. We have full confidence in our plan and we want to rock up and play great rugby,” prop Steven Kitshoff said this week.

“We believe our DNA is good enough to win big matches, so on Saturday we want to really pitch up and play dominant rugby.”

Perhaps the key work-on for the Springboks, however, is ensuring that the chances that arise from their superb pressure game are utilised better on Saturday, especially in the closing stages. “We had a lot of opportunities and some crucial moments didn’t go our way,” Kitshoff admitted.

Sunny and warm conditions, with a bit of wind, on the Gold Coast on Saturday could also help the Springboks’ kicking game because sweat from what coach Jacques Nienaber described as “the biggest Test of the year, the same intensity as the World Cup final”, combined with sub-tropical humidity could make handling the ball when hundreds of kilogrammes of South African beef are bearing down on you rather tricky.

Nienaber also said South Africa’s strategy was conditional on how the All Blacks chose to defend. But even with three different players in their backline, New Zealand are unlikely to change from the packed frontline of 14 defenders and just one at the back that they had last weekend.